Kapkiyai AB Women's Lot

Vava Angwenyi is the founder of Vava Coffee Ltd, a vertically integrated exporter and social benefit company based out of Nairobi, Kenya. Vava uses her company to provide education and tools for producers to learn more about the products they have to sell in the marketplace, and she intentionally includes women and young people in all aspects of this work. 

The Kapkiyai Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS) are a group of 398 producers that live in Nandi County–the highlands of Kenya's Rift Valley.

In 2010, Kapkiyai began to receive support from Techno Serve's Coffee Initiative and along with a focus on agronomy, the training they received included an emphasis on gender inclusion in the co-operative and wet mill. With time, Kapkiyai management began to see the potential of including more women in their work.

In the words of Kapkiyai FCS Chairman David Saina, “Women are the ones that look after the children. They are the ones that work on the farms. They are the ones that bring the coffee down the hills (to the co-operative for processing). It was time for them to get involved in sales.”

In 2018, Kapkiyai launched the first Fairtrade women-only coffee from their region.

his separated lot is from the 106 female producers of the Kapkiyai FCS, who make up just over a quarter of the total cooperative membership. Dorcas is both the Chairlady of the Women in Coffee group and a member of the co-operative’s management committee.

Through Vava's efforts we have been able to roast and share this unique coffee just in time for International Women's Day.

In the cup we taste intense cherry, crisp pink lady apple and lingering toffee.

Cooperative → Kapkiyai Farmers Cooperative Society Women's Group
Washing Station → Kapkiyai
Location → Nandi, Rift Valley, Kenya
Altitude → 2,000 - 2,300 masl
Variety → SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 & Batian
Process → Washed